Recombination Rate and Internal Field Efficiency of Staggered InGaN/GaN Light-Emitting Diodes with Left and Right Steps

In this study, the recombination rate and internal field efficiency of staggered InGaN/GaN quantum well light emitting diodes with left and right steps were investigated using the multiband effective mass theory. The left step quantum well structure shows a larger optical matrix element than that of the right step quantum well structure. In addition, the heavy-hole effective mass around the uppermost valence band for the left step quantum well structure is slightly larger than that for the right step quantum well structure. Consequently, the staggered left step quantum well structure shows a much larger radiative recombination rate and internal quantum efficiency than that of the right step structure.